Ronald Romm, Trumpeter

Founding Member of the World Famous Canadian Brass

2012 ITG Honorary Award Recipient

Ronald Romm, a performer who has appeared worldwide on the stages of most major concert venues, music festivals, and international music conferences, is widely acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent trumpeters and clinicians of today. He was a child prodigy who began his career as a soloist at the age of ten. By age twelve Ron was a member of his family’s band, the Romm-Antics, performing on live radio and television, and at eighteen he was already a veteran freelance trumpeter in Los Angeles, performing regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Brass Quintet.

Mr. Romm attended The Juilliard School in New York where he earned Bachelor and Masters Degrees and studied with William Vacchiano, legendary teacher and former Principal Trumpeter of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. In New York City, Mr. Romm established himself as a top freelance musician performing with every type and style of musical organization from the New York Brass Society to the New York Philharmonic to the Radio City Music Hall Symphony Orchestra to Broadway shows.

In 1971, Ronald Romm joined the newly formed Canadian Brass, which later established itself as the premiere brass ensemble in the world. In June of 2000, he retired from the group after participating in over 4,500 concerts, 60 recordings, numerous television concert specials, videos, and hundreds of master classes. He has performed with major orchestras and with the greatest living conductors in the world. Ron has shared the stage in live performance and recorded CDs with leading artists including Wynton Marsalis, Arturo Sandoval, Jon Faddis, Doc Severinsen, and brass performers from the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Berlin Philharmonic. As an educator, Ronald Romm has contributed to the growth of brass performance through hundreds of student clinics and master classes worldwide.

In 2002 Mr. Romm accepted the distinguished position of Professor of Trumpet at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a position he holds proudly.

Ronald and his wife and long time partner, Steinway Artist Avis, continue an active concert career as a spectacular Trumpet and Piano duo. The Romms present their stage show “A Trumpeter’s Dream” worldwide. The latest exciting concert endeavors for The Ronald and Avis Romm Trumpet and Piano Duo are their spectacular Trumpet, Piano and Symphony Orchestra Pops Show and their “Christmas Pops with the Romms”, as well as concert/masterclass tours of France and Italy in spring of 2014.

Meditations for Trumpet CD was released by Opening Day Entertainment Group in 2012, and launched in the top ten list of the Billboard Charts.

Avis, Ron and their trumpeter son Aaron also appear in concert and on recording as The Romm Trio. Recorded “singles” from the trio are available on this website.

Avis Romm

Avis Romm’s love affair with the piano began as early as age three. This passion led her to studies at The Juilliard School in New York where she received Bachelor of Music and Master of Science degrees. While in New York, she gave performances at Alice Tully Hall, Studio 58, concerts with the Juilliard Ensemble (Contemporary Music Ensemble founded by Luciano Berio and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies), The American Opera Center, as a member of The Juilliard Accompanying Staff and as a freelance performing and recording pianist. In addition, she performed as a solo and ensemble pianist for radio, television and stage throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan.

Avis is highly respected in the field of opera, having coached, directed, conducted and performed in hundreds of opera productions internationally. Much of her work was recorded for broadcast on television and radio. Ms. Romm has worked extensively with the Sarasota Opera Company both as a musical/vocal coach and pianist/conductor and she performs regularly with internationally renowned soloists.

Ms. Romm’s ongoing commitment to education has led to her involvement with some unique musical endeavors. With a view to young people, she became a specialist in the Carabo-Cone Method, A Sensory-Motor Approach to Music Learning, and spearheaded an innovative project by Yamaha Music Canada to integrate music education and classroom activities in the public schools. Avis has taught and lectured at the college level both in the United States and Canada; a major focal point of her lectures is musical collaboration and chamber performance.

Ms. Romm is also well known for her music editing skills; several of her popular piano editions are available from Minstrel Press. They include works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and Debussy. She created piano reductions of orchestral accompaniments for the Canadian Brass Solo Performing Editions for Trumpet (concertos by Haydn and Hummel), published by Hal Leonard Music, Inc.

A new CD of her works entitled “Piano Dreams” has recently been released by Opening Day Entertainment Group and is available on I-Tunes.

Avis performs regularly with her husband Ronald Romm, founding member of the world famous Canadian Brass, member of the Summit Brass and Professor of Trumpet at the University of Illinois. They present duo recitals and special pops shows with symphony orchestras as the Ronald and Avis Romm Trumpet and Piano Duo. The Duo performed in France and Italy in the spring of 2014.

Aaron Romm

Trumpeter and Clinician

Aaron Romm earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Musical Arts from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, and Master’s and Doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has performed throughout the United States and in Spain, Italy and Austria.

Most recently, Dr. Romm was appointed to an interim professorship in Trumpet at Illinois State University.

He currently resides in Champaign, IL where he is a member of Sinfonia da Camera, Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana, the Prairie Ensemble, the Urbana Pops Orchestra, as well as the contemporary music ensemble Suono Mobile USA, and the Champaign-based alternative rock band, Elsinore. He can be heard on their latest album, Push/Pull.

A special focus of Aaron’s performances is The Romm Trio, a two-trumpet-and-piano ensemble specializing in a wide stylistic variety of original arrangements and transcriptions.

Dr. Romm serves as Trumpet Faculty of The Conservatory of Central Illinois, and has served as a coach and clinician for student chamber music festivals in the Champaign-Urbana area. During the summer months, Aaron is the coordinator and faculty of the Illinois Summer Youth Music Trumpet Camp, an intensive program for trumpet students wishing to hone their skills in all aspects of solo and chamber performance. From his experiences performing educational chamber music concerts, Dr. Romm has created his own unique solo concerts and clinics designed to motivate and inspire students in elementary, middle, and high school music programs.

Reviews

An Outstanding Romm Trio Performance

The Romm Trio performance was outstanding and I received many complimentary remarks as president for bringing in such fine artists! They played pieces from a wide selection of composers, both classical and contemporary, which were exquisitely arranged for trumpet and piano, and played with the finesse expected from the superb artists that they are. The Romms had a wonderfully warm interaction with the audience as they explained their musical selections.

“Romm-antically Speaking:” A Visit with Ron, Aaron, and Avis Romm

With many stars of the world, one either gets the “star” treatment or the “humanistic” interaction. Ron and Avis always give to everyone themselves as people first and this is, in my opinion, why they are stars! Ron was specifically at ITG to accept the Honorary Award, perform with the Romm Trio on a recital, and participate in a masterclass session.

It was especially meaningful that both Avis and Aaron were there to help honor Ron as the Romms have truly always been a team effort—sharing the spotlight, supporting each other—and, through it all, simply being a family.

Trumpet Player in Concert for Community Concert Association

Thursday night a beautifully charming couple, Ronald Romm, trumpet player, and his pianist accompanist, Avis Fedge Romm, enthralled an enthusiastic audience in the second concert of this year’s community concert series. Playing songs drawn from the works of such compositional giants as Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Gershwin, Puccini, Verdi, and Bizet, the Romm’s demonstrated a flair for their own unique arrangements, producing some wonderfully lyric and expressive musical moments, and capturing the essence of melody and accompaniment in each one they played. Most of their songs may not have been written for the two instruments of piano and trumpet alone, but as Avis Romm explained to the audience, perhaps composers like Debussy, “didn’t realize how well they had written for the trumpet!” Read more…

Trumpeter Ronald Romm Is As Brilliant As His Brass

They brought the house down with brilliance. They built it up again with refinement and sensitivity.

They were Ronald and Avis Romm, heading up the final concert of the San Bemardino Valley Community Concert Association. It was more than simply another trumpet and piano recital. It was an aesthetic event.Read more…

Ron Romm and Avis Fedge Romm Recital in Quad Cities

Now that I finally have a minute, I’d like to comment on the concert by Ron and Avis Romm that took place in the Quad Cities last weekend.

First, since Ron is a member of our exalted list: Ron, thanks many times for the time you spent in our area, for the great workshops that you did in our schools and businesses, and for your dazzling concert.

The concert featured what you would expect from a longtime member of the Canadian Brass – an eclectic mix of astounding artistry and entertaining favorites with a bit of humor on the side.